Chemicals ranging from nerve gas to emissions from mouldy food can now be
sniffed out by a palm-sized vapour detector made by by Orlando, Florida-based
Sawtek. The VaporLab system contains four piezoelectric crystals, each of which
is coated with a different polymer that absorbs target vapours. Absorption
changes the crystal’s resonant frequency, which is then matched to a database of
frequency shifts of up to 200 known compounds.
More from ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ articles
1
The best new science-fiction books of June 2026
2
Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients
3
Does gravity create reality? A shocking path to a theory of everything
4
How a radical new view of life could reveal its origin – and aliens
5
Glaciers in the 'roof of the world' have suddenly started melting
6
Q-Day could destroy bitcoin – and our retirement savings
7
Photons behave very strangely if you try to cut them
8
Aim high but don't shoot for the moon, mathematicians advise
9
Embryos made without sperm or eggs reveal why many pregnancies fail
10
Why autism pioneer Uta Frith wants to dismantle the spectrum
